Food campaigners are aiming to ‘feed the 5,000’ – by giving away free lunches in Manchester city centre today.

More than a tonne of fruit and vegetables have been chopped to make a delicious free lunch, open to anyone to tuck into in Piccadilly Gardens.

Every plateful will have been made with produce which would have been thrown away by supermarkets.

Organisers hope it will raise awareness of how much fresh food is rejected by supermarkets every day – because it does not match strict rules on colour, shape and size.

Campaigners say up to 40 per cent of produce is rejected by supermarkets before it reaches the aisles, with UK households wasting a fifth of all the food they buy.

People stopping by for the free lunch will also be able to get tips on how to reduce the amount of food they waste at home and recipes on using up left-overs.

The event is being organised by Manchester Friends of the Earth, food distribution charity FareShare North West, non-profit organisation Cracking Good Food and the Feeding the 5,000 campaign team.

Corin Bell, food waste campaigner at Manchester Friends of the Earth said: “In our current economic climate, with so many people struggling to afford basics like food, it seems ridiculous that perfectly nutritious food is wasted because it’s not aesthetically perfect, or because it’s the ‘wrong’ size.”

Sebastien Serayet, development manager at Fareshare North West, said: “Good food should not be wasted especially when people are struggling to afford to feed themselves.

“We work all year to capture edible food and give it away to charitable organisations who feed those in need.

“Feeding the 5,000 is a great event to highlight these issues to the general public and show how local communities are tackling these problems.”

The Feed the 5,000 lunch takes place from midday until 4pm today and is open to anyone.